Justice denied in Milosevic trial

Milosevic's sudden death confirms the position on the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia (ICTY) of one of the most scholarly studies produced on the Balkan tragedy.

In Fools Crusade: Yugoslavia, Nato and Western Delusions, the author Diana Johnstone notes: "Tribunal indictments being the equivalent of conviction in the court of public opinion, with guilt taken for granted, prosecution and conviction are scarcely necessary, and the next step can be execution. Out of deference to its European supporters, the ICTY can inflict long prison sentences, but not capital punishment. However, the number of unconvicted defendants who have died while in custody of the ICTY or its agents ought to have caused a major scandal in any proper criminal jurisdiction. Defendants appear to run a strong statistical risk of de facto death penalty before being put on trial."

Among the unfortunate Serbian victims of this undue process that she cites are Simo Drljaca, Dragan Gagovic, Djordje Djukic, Slavko Dokmanovic and Milan Kovacevic.

With this history in mind, it would certainly appear from the evidence about Milosevic's condition, and the refusal by the ICTY of his request to be allowed to go abroad for medical treatment, that the ICTY is again responsible for another death in its custody.Russell Caplan London

The death of Slobodan Milosevic in prison while still on trial for "crimes against humanity" underlines the travesty of his trial. I am no defender of Milosevic, but if he were guilty of the heinous crimes for which he was accused, he could have been convicted within months, not the five years he has supposedly been on trial. The evidence was so tenuous in terms of proving he was responsible for the undoubted crimes that took place that no conviction would have been plausible. That's why it is more than convenient that he has died in prison.

Just as with Iraq, Iran, Cuba and now Venezuela, where "human rights" are the fig leaf for intervention and aggression, the real crime of all these countries is standing up to US hegemony. Milosevic also refused to accept globalisation and the privatisation of his country's national resources and industries.John Green Aberystwyth, Dyfed

The demise of Slobodan Milosevic casts a shadow over the credibility of the Hague tribunal. If the Nuremburg tribunal could dispense justice to a dozen top Nazis in less than 18 months, why not Milosevic in more than four years? Justice delayed has now been denied.Dominic Shelmerdine London